Wagoner Dismisses Lutz Remarks Re. Climate Change = "Crock Of Shit" - Detroit News

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON -- General Motors Corp. chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner slapped down comments made by a top company executive that called global warming a "crock," saying he did not agree with them.

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz recently called global warming "a crock" and completed the colorful expression with an expletive, drawing enormous attention by bloggers and others.

"The comments weren't coming out of our company," Wagoner said today at an hour-long breakfast with reporters, noting the company has made its strategy clear to address legitimate societal concerns about climate change. Wagoner said he didn't agree with Lutz's comment.

"The data is pretty clear that the temperature on the earth is rising. There's all sort of debates as to why but we've clearly come down on the side it makes sense for us to put our business in a position where we can participate proactively in reducing the amount of (carbon dioxide) emissions," Wagoner said.

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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/BIZ/803110430/1001/BIZ

[LSK]

1. doesnt Lutz want to build more Camaros and Hummers?

:shrug:

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Lutz is a businessman. He wants to sell what people will buy.

It's all very well and good for GM to make nothing but pure EV's; but if they can't sell enough of them, then GM is dead.

I have a visceral reaction to Hummers when I see them on the street. I cannot help myself. However, I notice Toyota (beloved for their Prius) is really pushing their "Tundra" on the TV. (I can't remember the last ad I saw for a Prius.) Can I really feel all that much better about Toyota than about GM?

[Kolesar]

3. The car market for EVs or internal combustion cars is going to disappear with these gasoline prices

How is a young person going to be able to afford to drive to a low wage "entry" job if most of their wages go to gasoline? People will start to buy homes closer to work or on a bus route so they don't have to finance a car and buy the gasoline. Businesses that depend on mobility will disappear. It will trend toward being like the 1930s or 1940s when nobody in my family owned a car.

[CRF450]

4. Um, the Camaro's are not in production, but it will be soon.

Me being a performance car enthusiast thats great to see, but GM is putting alot of focus on a hybrid system and the Volt, which is also great. As long as theirs a market for performance, luxury, trucks/SUV's, large sedans, GM will build them. IMO a market for those vehicle will always exist. Lately they'v been releasing some great cars, check out the Pontiac G8.